In view of automation and in particular monitoring of electrical installations, the integration of electrical equipment is becoming increasingly important. One of the main tasks is ensuring a reliable exchange of information between monitoring and measuring devices that are able to communicate and whose structure is increasingly modular. Aside from the specification and application of transmission protocols, the physical design of data transmission, too, plays an important role for an error-free communication between the devices and systems. In particular the quick and cost-effective production of an electrical and mechanical connection between devices, which is required in case of an extended function of the electrical installation, is often difficult.
From the state of the art, the 16-pin DIN rail bus connector system HBUS by Phoenix Contact (www.phoenixcontact.com) is known, for example. The bus connector system HBUS is based on a DIN-rail bus connector having a corresponding housing width, which is inserted into a mounting rail (C-section DIN rail) and locked to it. The DIN rail bus connectors are electrically contacted via 16-pin male and female connector strips by being laterally pushed together. The device housings can be snapped onto the C-section DIN rail and thus simultaneously onto the DIN rail bus connectors. The electrical contact with the device electronics is produced by way of an 18-pin male connector strip that is located on a circuit board in the respective device housing and by way of an 18-pin female connector strip on the DIN rail bus connector.
An electronics housing that is configured for a bus connector system of this kind and comprises a housing base portion that can be locked onto a mounting rail and bus connectors that can be plugged together and be locked onto the mounting rail in a slidable manner is disclosed in document DE 20 2006 006 615 U1.
Furthermore, a bus system by E. Dold & Söhne K G is known from the state of the art under the name “In-Rail-Bus—Bussystem in der Hutschiene” (in-rail bus—bus system in a top hat rail). In said system, a support profile made of plastic and having a pre-installed bus circuit board is placed into a C-section DIN rail. Parallel circuit paths are printed onto the bus circuit board, which are contacted via spring contact blocks that are installed on the circuit boards of the devices when the device housings snap onto the mounting rail.
A similar arrangement is described in document DE 10 2006 031 129 A1. The device system disclosed there has device modules that are mounted on a support rail and are connected to one another via a bus line arranged in the support rail. The bus line has the shape of an elongated circuit board and is fixed within the support rail by means of snap-on support elements.
All of the afore-mentioned bus connector systems are based on the fact that they function only if they are mounted in a C-section DIN rail (top hat rail as mounting rail/support rail). First, the bus circuit board or the bus connector has to be positioned in the support rail with the aid of suitable holding means before the electrical device can be attached to the mounting rail by means of additional fastening means. The obligatory use of a mounting rail can prove disadvantageous in terms of mounting effort.
Thus, the object of the present invention is to design a bus connector system for electrical equipment that realizes both flexible electrical contacting and an extendable mechanical connection in a simple and cost-effective manner.